You can buy index funds cheaply, but in my experience a novice is better off investing in a handful of the better mutual funds. Some can learn to pick their own investments, but it takes time, patience, restraint, and the ability to keep one's emotions in check. If you would have just gone out and dumped your money into GM and Bear Stearns stock a half dozen years ago you would have lost it all.

A person can do well in stocks, if he knows his investments, etc. Most people buy based on headlines and take it raw without lube and not even getting the goddamn common courtesy of a reach-around. They deserve what they get for being sheep.

Most great investments aren't listed in the newspaper or "Money" magazine.

I don't think an average investor should do any of this. You don't need to quit your job to turn a few bucks into many bucks with relatively little risk over time. Almost NO ONE should day or swing trade - it's FAR too risky for the small investor, and very risky overall.

And hurricanes, natural disasters, lawsuits, drug approvals, etc almost always get priced into the markets and the individual securities that may be affected by these things before or after market hours, so that the markets and the stocks open at the higher or lower price it is now valued at due to whatever is happening.

Announcements on FDA approvals, M&A, earnings, lawsuits, management changes, activist investor filings, etc almost always occur after the bell, or before it the next morning. Things like natural disasters that happen usually result in the markets opening lower than where they closed the day before.

These are "gaps" that usually occur on these things. If AAPL closes at 525 and shoots up to 555 after hours on positive earnings news, it will likely sell off a bit before and after the open the next morning. If you didn't own it already before the bell on that afternoon, you're taking a big gamble by buying it after the open the next morning - you'll likely see it sell off that next day. If you didn't already own it or at least own a call option, you're probably SOL on trying to get in on any further "pop".

Almost everyone is better off thinking much more longterm and investing with that in mind. At some point you realize that you want to retire wealthy at a farily young age - NOT brag to everybody how much $ you're making and spending while you're young.

you wake up early and watch the pre-market report, and you trade all day.

all you're trying to do is ride on the coat-tails of the big market movers.

if a stock pop's 3 percent, you're not gonna get that full 3 percent, all you wanna do is catch that middle 1 percent.

the easy thing is all you have to do is pay attention... and use common sense (usually.. sometimes common sense doesn't work. lol).

there's a hurricane? get long oil and short airline's.

there's a natural disaster? short insurance co's with the greatest exposure.

co loses a lawsuit? short it and cover before it bounces back... then get long and hold it on the way back up for a quick pop.

pharma co gets a drug approved? that's good for a 5 point pop, all you wanna do is catch the middle 3 points.

ect, ect, ect....

if you don't pay attention you WILL lose your money, so in that sense, sure, it's like a casino... but when I go to the casino and jump on the roulette table, i'm not throwing chips over the table all willy nilly.... i'm looking at the odd's of the past numbers hitting and i'm playing those, and i'm spreading my chips... top 3rd, end 3rd, black, 4 corners, ect... you increase your chances of winning, but lower your overall winnings. i'd rather make a little for a long time, than make a lot once or twice.

A person can do well in stocks, if he knows his investments, etc. Most people buy based on headlines and take it raw without lube and not even getting the goddamn common courtesy of a reach-around. They deserve what they get for being sheep.

Most great investments aren't listed in the newspaper or "Money" magazine.

agreed.

You could make good money if you're good at spotting new companys with great potential. You see they have some new revolutionizing product or something. But all that is longterm and risky. But if you have a good eye for it then why not invest.

Yes and I've been doing it a long time. One has to understand each market segment and the drivers within each. The feds QE program is driving up the market at present so it's not a good entry point. It's best for new investors to index the market or market segments and dollar cost average over time so your buying at different market levels.

Start doing some reading and watching market wrap ups. Going in based on market tips etc does not turn out well.

Agreed. Dollar cost averaging is a good way to minimize risk. It's something that is built in with the regular 401k / IRA / SEP contribution smart investors should be doing for themselves with each paycheck. Buy more shares in investments with the same amount of $ when markets are down and less when they are up.

on a side note, one the managers of maybe the best short term trading fund (SAC Capital) once got caught injecting test on its traders. if you have more test in your blood you take better higher risks apparently.

Municipal Utility bonds. If the TVA goes under we can all reach between our legs and kiss our ass goodbye anyway….its over. Put a hundred bucks a month in there and come back in 30 years and odds are you can retire in style. I was foolish and did not do this until I was 55. 73 now and looking good thank you.

Be careful with ETFs - some are shit. I like to use names like Ishares, SPDR, etc for exposure to commodities - gold, silver, other metals, crude, nat gas, etc. Much less risky than betting on futures or tying up $ in the actual physical commodities. Diversify.

Not if you're trading, i.e., buying and selling such that you hold the assets less than a year. And that's what you suggested you would be doing in a previous comment.

P.S. You still haven't indicated how you would earn a 25% annualized return on 1milUSD over the long-term, thereby making you the greatest investor to have ever lived.

The very best are lucky to average over 20%. There are a few here and there who've apparently averaged over 30, and maybe 1 or 2 who've averaged around 40%. I think Cohen / SAC did, and of course they finally got busted for insider trading.

This guy is pretty good so far, but I'd like to see what he will do over several decades:

Just sold the lambo, so I have some spare cash. How would a complete n00b get started? What books to read, what sites to frequent? And as I read above that it matters: No, I won't be spending every second of every day doing this. It basically needs to run itself once it has started up. ETFs then, any other options?

Talk to several advisors at reputable firms in your area then go from there. Read some good books - Buffet, Icahn, Dalio, Soros, Peter Lynch, etc.

If he has $350k to invest, he'd be better off buying a little of Berkshire's B shares and diversifying the other $300k plus, rather than putting it all into two A shares and gambling on what might happen when Warren dies or steps down.

You don't have to quit your day job to play the stock money. Where will u get the money to invest. The way I do it is buy stuff I use and pay a bill to that I think is a good company. Example I make money off of Verizon, Nike, wife spends money at Michael Kohrs., I wear Polo so made money off Ralf Lauren, watch Netflix made great money off of them, kids have Iphones so I bought Apple at $79. You get the picture.

you wake up early and watch the pre-market report, and you trade all day.

all you're trying to do is ride on the coat-tails of the big market movers.

if a stock pop's 3 percent, you're not gonna get that full 3 percent, all you wanna do is catch that middle 1 percent.

the easy thing is all you have to do is pay attention... and use common sense (usually.. sometimes common sense doesn't work. lol).

there's a hurricane? get long oil and short airline's.

there's a natural disaster? short insurance co's with the greatest exposure.

co loses a lawsuit? short it and cover before it bounces back... then get long and hold it on the way back up for a quick pop.

pharma co gets a drug approved? that's good for a 5 point pop, all you wanna do is catch the middle 3 points.

ect, ect, ect....

if you don't pay attention you WILL lose your money, so in that sense, sure, it's like a casino... but when I go to the casino and jump on the roulette table, i'm not throwing chips over the table all willy nilly.... i'm looking at the odd's of the past numbers hitting and i'm playing those, and i'm spreading my chips... top 3rd, end 3rd, black, 4 corners, ect... you increase your chances of winning, but lower your overall winnings. i'd rather make a little for a long time, than make a lot once or twice.

Terrible advice for a beginner and what you're describing is not investing, it's speculating. Starting with technical analysis is a really bad idea.

Investing doesn't have to be a full time job. I invest once a month when I get my salary (someone has already mentioned dollar cost averaging...) and I don't spend that much time reading up on each company - but I also have a somewhat simple investment strategy.

As a beginner I think a good way to start is by learning some basic fundamental analysis and start investing a fixed amount of money each month, focusing on well-known dividend paying stocks with a good history. This strategy will not make you a millionaire over night but it will give you a good foundation and greater insight of how the market works. It's also quite fun having a big, well-known company "working for you", and not the other way around.

Right now may not be a good entry point but investing in well-known dividend paying companies like McDonalds, or whatever company whose business model you can understand and believe in long term, will most likely be a decent investment over time.

Having a dividend paying portfolio makes it easier to "not do stupid shit" in a declining market and this is, how silly it may sound, the real test. Investing is more often than not more about emotional stability than intelligence.

you wake up early and watch the pre-market report, and you trade all day.

all you're trying to do is ride on the coat-tails of the big market movers.

if a stock pop's 3 percent, you're not gonna get that full 3 percent, all you wanna do is catch that middle 1 percent.

the easy thing is all you have to do is pay attention... and use common sense (usually.. sometimes common sense doesn't work. lol).

there's a hurricane? get long oil and short airline's.

there's a natural disaster? short insurance co's with the greatest exposure.

co loses a lawsuit? short it and cover before it bounces back... then get long and hold it on the way back up for a quick pop.

pharma co gets a drug approved? that's good for a 5 point pop, all you wanna do is catch the middle 3 points.

ect, ect, ect....

if you don't pay attention you WILL lose your money, so in that sense, sure, it's like a casino... but when I go to the casino and jump on the roulette table, i'm not throwing chips over the table all willy nilly.... i'm looking at the odd's of the past numbers hitting and i'm playing those, and i'm spreading my chips... top 3rd, end 3rd, black, 4 corners, ect... you increase your chances of winning, but lower your overall winnings. i'd rather make a little for a long time, than make a lot once or twice.

stocks are exactly like gambling. the easy money is when you trade against suckers. and if you dont know who the suckers are well...

If you are just randomly picking out stocks to trade / speculate on based on emotions, "tips", headlines, etc without any sort of discipline or methodology, it is in fact a good way to make yourself a "sucker" who is "gambling". If you invest your $ wisely in a diversified portfolio of quality investments with a goal of longterm capital appreciation, capital preservation, etc, you'll likely do very well over time.

Most of you probably do not invest and are making things up. But this actually isn't bad advice. Schultz is an amazing CEO. Starbucks is far from done growing,with their expansion into the tea market and growth in china you should see this stock do well.

If any of you don't know his story check it out. Brilliant guy. Everyone told him this luxury coffee idea was terrible, couldn't find anybody in invest.

Uncle howie is a smart man / ceo

Starbucks bought into square .. Wait till they go public I'm going to make a killing

It's gambling sometimes u win sometimes u lose. I personally like to grab blue chips in a bare market and go long. Prob safest way not to lose your $$$$$ and not have to watch it like a hawk all day. Draw back is takes years sometimes before you double or triple your investment. Still better than a savings account just depends on your risk tolerance. Stay diversified ,write your plan on paper and stick to it,don't get emotional with the daily news stick to what you wrote down.

My money is on starbucks.. I have $8 shares I'm on holding on for a rainy day..Target price for starbucks is $92 it closed at around $80.50 today.. still room to make money